Two-speed winch

ABSTRACT

A hand winch assembly having a central power input shaft to effect rotation of an external drum, the shaft when rotated clockwise effects direct rotation of the drum in a clockwise direction through a sprag clutch in a one-to-one ratio, the shaft when rotated in a counter-clockwise direction effects rotation of the drum in a clockwise direction through a planetary gear system and sprag clutch at a geared-down rotation. The gearing assembly and clutches are located in the body and head portion of the winch thereby reducing the overall height. The working mechanism is entirely sealed from the external elements. The winch includes a disc-like mounting ring which is mounted relatively flush with the deck of the boat and the winch body may be attached and removed from the mounting ring without disturbing the seals.

United States Patent Baldwin 51 Aug. 8, 1972 [54] TWO-SPEED WINCH [72] Inventor: William C. Baldwin, 2861 Monroe Avenue, Anaheim, Calif.

[22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1969 I [21] Appl. N0.: 877,262

731,014 3/1966 Canada ..254/150 Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Merle F. Maffei Attorney-John E. Wagner ABSTRACT A hand winch assembly having a central power input shaft to effect rotation of an external drum, the shaft when rotated clockwise effects direct rotation of the drum in a clockwise direction through a sprag clutch in a one-to-one ratio, the shaft when rotated in a counter-clockwise direction effects rotation of the drum in a clockwise direction through a planetary gear system and sprag clutch at a geared-down rotation.

The gearing assembly and clutches are located in the body and head portion of the winch thereby reducing the overall height. The working mechanism is entirely sealed from the external elements. The winch includes a disc-like mounting ring which is mounted relatively flush with the deck of the boat and the winch body may be attached and removed from the mounting ring without disturbing the seals.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUG 8 m2 SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR William C. Baldwin PATENTEDAUG 8 I972 SHEET 2 BF 2 1 N VEN TOR William -C. Buldwin 1 TWO-SPEED wmcn BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The field of this invention relates to manual actuated winches and more particularly to winches employed upon sailing craft. The winch assembly of this invention is an advancementv in the art of the winch assembly described in our Patent application, Ser. No. 842,428, filed June 23, 1969, entitled SILENT WINCH.

Craft have employed the use of winches for many years. For example, upon power boats winches are frequently employed to bring up anchors or to reel in tie-up lines. However, upon sailboats there is a greater need for the use of winches. The sail must be constantly manipulated with respect to prevailing wind conditions orwhen the navigator wants to change course. The manipulation of the sail is conventionally accomplished by wrapping a boom line one or two turns about a winch drum, and drawing in or relaxing the line, depending on the position or change desired. Upon making the change, the free or loose end of the line may be secured to a nearby post or conventional cleat to hold the sail position until another change is desired.

When the making of a change is deemed to be necessary, either by reason of a change in wind conditions or a desire to change course, the time factor for making the change usually becomes important. It may be necessary to rapidly effect the change to avoid an ad verse condition of the craft within the water or for reason of obtaining the most efficient operation of the craft during a race. In other instances, it maybe desirable to obtain a slow change, but that change requiring a substantial winching force.

Heretofore, the winches that have been employed are generally of a single type. Each winch of the prior devices employs a spring biased pawl or pawls which cooperate with a series of ratchet teeth. As the winch drum is turned in one direction, the pawl or pawls cooperate with the ratchet teeth to prevent movement of the drum in the opposite direction. A disadvantage of winches used previously is that the snapping action of the spring biased pawl or pawls creates a significant amount of noise. This noise can be quite disturbing to passengers on board or, if the navigator is attempting to listen to a radio or another person, it is usually difficult for the navigator to hear while operatin g the winch.

In our copending application identified above, we describe and claim a silent winch employing sprag clutches which eliminate this disadvantage. The winch of that application is a single-speed winch and we have now discovered that in employing sprag clutches, it is possible to produce an improved two-speed winch.

Two-speed or geared winches are usually used for the main sail lines on a sailboat where the mechanical advantage of a substantial length handle and gearing is desirable because of winching and forces required. Additionally, if it is desirable for fast takeup the line may be affected by turning the handle in one direction and close or slow speed mechanically advantage takeup produced by rotation of the same handle in the opposite direction. Winches of this type are commonly referred to as two-speed, or geared winches. Characteristically, they employarather deep base in the order of 3 to 4 inches in depth on which a winch drum is superimposed. The gear system is enclosed within the base. Typically, the base portion is cup shaped and susceptible to capture water and producing corrosion damage to the working mechanism. With conventional winches, it is not possible to remove a winch without breaking the seals protecting the gearing and to remove a winch normally leaves exposed mounted holes in the deck.

It would be desirable to design a winch for water craft which is substantially silent in operation and is capable of operating at a plurality of different speed settings.

It would be further desirable to design a two-speed winch in which the operating mechanisms are well above the deck level, thoroughly sealed from the weather and the winch so arranged that it may be installed and removed without disturbing any of its rotational seals. Additionally, the winch base should remain in place on the deck as an unobtrusive member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION threads to a ring mounting plate permanently secured to the deck.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the winch assembly of this invention contained within a drum;

FIG. 2 is a partial vertical sectional view of a winch assembly of FIG. 1 showing in more detail the arrangement of applicants invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the winch apparatus of this invention showing in greater detail the structure of applicant's invention; and

FIG. 4 is a simplified mechanical schematic drawing illustrating the operation of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SHOWN EMBODIMENT Referring particularly to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a winch 10 having a drum 12 and a central rotatable shaft 14 (of FIG. 2) operable by a crank 16, including a square or noncircular shaft 16A. Drum 12 is shaped to hold two or three pairs of a lanyard or line and restrain the line from being released. An upper flange 18 and lower flange 20 of the drum l2 tend to maintain the line upon the drum 12.

The lower flange 20 of the drum 12 ends at a circular base portion 21 which presents the appearance of a disc ranging from one-fourth inch to one-half inch thickness depending upon the winch size. The base portion 21 actually does not constitute the mounting base of the winch but amovable portion of the winch which mounts the main shaft.

Now referring specifically to FIG. 2, operative arrangement of the winch as vertically sectioned may be more clearly seen. A shaft 14 is positioned at the axis of the winch and sealed to an upper housing cap 15 by an ring of similar seal 17. The shaft 14 extends into the interior cavity 19 of the winch and includes integral gearing which constitutes the sun gear 23 of a planetary gear system. Shaft 14 also includes an axial cavity 22 for the handle shaft 16A. It should be noted that the cavity terminates in the region of the gear 23 but constitutes a closed hole so that there is no communication through opening 22 into the interior of the winch. The sun gear 23 mates with a plurality, for examples, four planet gears 24 which also engage integral ring gear teeth 25 in the interior of the drum head 18.

It is apparent also from FIG. 2 that the cap is secured to the drum 12 round its periphery by a plurality of screw or similar fasteners 26 to constitute a single member when the winch is manufactured. The cap 15 may be removed for servicing of the gear system. The planet gears 24 are carried on a carrier 30 with each of the planets mounted by integral stub shafts, for example, 31, fitting in mating recesses in the carrier 30. The planet carrier includes a cylindrical inner surface 32 which constitutes the braking surface with a first sprag type one-way clutch 33 which engages a drum portion 34 integral with the shaft 14.

A second sprag clutch 35 similarly engages the surface 32 and cooperates to allow one-way movement only with a cylindrical surface 36 integral with the drum base member 21. A sprag clutches 33 and 35 constitute one-way clutches described in more detail in our copending application identified above. It is recognized that other types of one-way clutches might be substituted for the members 33 and 35 to provide an operative winch. However, for the reasons explained in more detail in our copending application, the sprag one-way clutches are preferred.

The shaft 14 in the region of the clutch 35 includes a reduced diameter section 37 riding in a sleeve bearing 38 which is positioned central shaft opening of the base member 21. An 0 ring or similar seal 41 prevents any ingress of moisture into the working mechanism of the winch. A retainer ring 42 transfers any axial loading on the drum to the base member 21 which in turn is secured by threads 43 to the base 40. The base 40 is secured by flat head bolts unshown in the drawing to the deck. The bolts pass through rim openings 44, one of which appears in the drawing.

A number of features of the invention are clearly evident from FIG. 2 and may be described prior to the explanation of the detailed operation. These features in particular have to do with the sealing and mounting arrangements of the winch.

SEAL ARRANGEMENT It is noted in FIG. 2 that the recessed shaft 14 is mounted on the axis of the winch and passes through the cover 15. Seal 17 is secured in a recess in the cap 15 and provides effective moisture seal between the rotating shaft 14 and the winch drum. All gearing and braking members are located below the seal 17 in the cavity 19 generally in the upper half .of the winch. At the lower end of the shaft 14 is the 0 ring seal 41 securing or sealing the interior of the winch from moisture which might enter under the base.

The most critical seal in the winch is located between the lower drum portion 20 and the base 21. It is a flat ring shaped seal 45, for example, of neoprene rubber. The underside of the seal 45 is exposed to possible ingress of fluid between the drum 20 and the base 21, but the narrow clearance passage between these members 20 and 21 shields the seal 45 from direct exposure. Seal 45 is positioned between a flange 46 which is integral with the drum l2 and annular step 47 on the base 21. The step 47 also constitutes a stop for positioning a first set of ball bearings 50 of the winch.

It should be noted that the base 21 actually is not directly secured to the deck but is in threaded engagement with mounting plate 40. Base 21 includes a pair of openings 52, one of which is partially shown in FIG. 2 designed to accept a large spanner wrench used in installing and removing the winch. By rotating the winch and winch base 21 in a counter-clockwise direction, the entire winch is removed from the mounting plate 40 and none of the mechanism seals of the winch are disturbed. The winch is movable to any other position on the boat where a similar mounting plate 40 has previously been installed. Installation of the winch, removal and reinstallation at a different spot can be accomplished in a matter of minutes.

INTERNAL DETAILS OF THE WINCH Please refer to FIG. 3 which the winch assembly of FIG. 2 is shown in an exploded view with the drum 12 removed and only the ring gear portion 25 shown in phantom. The cover 15 is illustrated as enclosing the upper end of shaft 14 with its polygonal opening 22 to receive a handle. The shaft 14 is shown broken appearing below the cover plate as including its integral gear teeth 23 constituting the sun gear of a planetary system. The four planet gears 24 are shown engaging sun gear 23 and the phantom ring gear 25. The planet gears 24 are each positioned on the carrier 30 by four equally spaced shafts 31. The carrier braking surface 32 is readily apparent as a cylindrical opening of such dimension that it receives the pair of sprag clutches 33 and 35. The sprag clutches include a retainer ring 330 and a plurality of sprag members 33b having outer surfaces which engage the surface 32 and inner surfaces which engage the shaft 14 on surface 34. The lower portion of shaft 14, namely the stem 37, may be seen extending below the planetary gears 24 into the cylindrical opening 32.

The two sprag clutches 33 and 35 are shown in position for entry into the opening 32 with the sprag clutch 33 engaging surfaces 32 and 34 to prevent relative rotation between the shaft 14 and the carrier 30 in a counterclockwise direction while allowing free relative rotation in the opposite direction. The sprag clutch 35 similarly engages the surface 32 and surface 36 on the base member 21, preventing relative rotation between the planetary carrier 30 and the rigid base in a counterclockwise direction while allowing relatively free rotation in the opposite direction. The bearing assembly 51 is shown on he vertical extension of the base 21 and below it a third sprag clutch 60 engaging the base member 21 and a cylindrical surface of the drum l2 unshown in the drawing. The sprag clutch 60 constitutesthe basic braking element of the winch preventing relative rotation of the drum in the counterclockwise direction at any time. Positioned below the sprag clutch 60 is the second roller bearing assembly 50 engaging the upright portion of base 21 and the unshown drum. Below the bearing 50 may be seen the seal 45 and step 47. This sea], as is apparent from FIG. 2, engages the base member 21 and the unshown drum.

The low mounting plate 40 with mounting holes 44 appear below the base member 21. The simplicity of the mounting plate in its unobtrusive nature are apparent. The threads for securing the base 21 to the mounting plate 40 appear in the central circular opening of the plate 40. Inasmuch as the load applied on the winch drum transmitted to the base member 21 exerts a counter-clockwise torque, left handed threads are used in the mounting plate and base so that loading the winch tends to tighten the mounting rather than release it.

The mode of operation of the winch is illustrated particularly in FIG. 4. For high speed operation the handle of FIG. 1 is turned in a clockwise direction. The sun gear 23 engages planet gear 24 which is restrained from rotation relative to sun gear 23 by sprag clutch 33 holding carrier and the planet gear 24 directly drives the ring gear 25 integral with the drum. This operation is in a one-to-one speed ratio with the drum turning one full revolution for each revolution of the handle in a clockwise direction.

If the handle 16 is reversed and driven in a counterclockwise direction, the winch is restrained from releasing the line by the one way clutch 60 unshown in FIG. 4. But the sun gear 23 is then rotated counterclockwise and the planet carrier 30 is allowed to rotate clockwise. The planet gear 24 then drives the ring gear 25 at a reduced speed. A four to one ratio reduction has been found to be desirable. In either the high speed or low speed operation the drum always turns in the same direction. Sprag clutch prevents the carrier from counter-clockwise rotation at any time.

One other feature of the invention relates to the low profile of the winch. Since the base is only in the order of three-eights inch to three-fourths inch high depending upon the diameter of the winch the mean position for loading of the line is significantly less than prior art winches. Therefore the tip-over moment applied to the winch is reduced. Additionally there is no cup base to retain water.

The separate mounting ring is of universal type since it includes not only countersunkmounting holes 44 for receiving flat head screws but also includes threaded open holes 48 suitable for machine screw mounting from the underside. This latter arrangement is particularly suitable for fiberglass hull boats.

The foregoing is representative of illustrative embodiments of this invention and is not to be construed as limiting. It is recognized that one skilled in the art can, through minor modification of the structure,

produce a device different in certain details and respects but not departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. This invention therefore is not limited by the embodiments shown above but rather than by the prior art and the following claims.

Iclaim:

l. A marine winch comprising:

a mounting plate designed for substantially flat permanent mounting on the deck of a boat; said mounting plate including a central threaded a win gii biise including an upstanding shaft portion and a threaded stub portion designed to engage the threads of said mounting plate, and

including a flange portion extending outward to the periphery of the winch,

a drum mounted for rotation about the upstanding portion of the base including internal braking means to prevent the rotation of the drum in one direction,

said drum portion including a lower flange extending outward to cover the base and mounting plate except for the edge thereof;

seal means between the drum and base; and

the edge of said base including means engageable by a wrench for removing the base from the mounting plate without disturbing said seal means.

2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein the winch includes first seal means between the drum and the shaft and second seal mans between the drum and the base,

said first and second seal means being independent of the mounting and de-mounting portion of the base and mounting plate.

3. The combination in accordance with claim 1 including a planetary gear system including a shaft having and external input comprising a shaft extending to the top of said drum and sealed for rotation with respect to said drum and a sun gear fixed to the shaft within the winch,

a ring gear coupled to the drum and a planet gear system engaging the sun and ring gear wherein the planetary gear system is positioned within the region of the upper flange of the winch.

The combination in accordance with claim 3 wherein said shaft is rotatably secured to the base of the winch and a pair of sprag clutches engage the planet gear portion of the planetary gear system,

one of said sprag clutches allowing rotation in one direction only on the planet portion of the planetary gear system with respect to the shaft and the second of the sprag clutches allowing one-way rotation of the planet portion of the planetary gear system with respect to the base of the winch. 

1. A marine winch comprising: a mounting plate designed for substantially flat permanent mounting on the deck of a boat; said mounting plate including a central threaded aperture; a winch base including an upstanding shaft portion and a threaded stub portion designed to engage the threads of said mounting plate, and including a flange portion extending outward to the periphery of the winch, a drum mounted for rotation about the upstanding portion of the base including internal braking means to prevent the rotation of the drum in one direction, said drum portion including a lower flange extending outward to cover the base and mounting plate except for the edge thereof; seal means between the drum and base; and the edge of said base including means engageable by a wrench for removing the base from the mounting plate without disturbing said seal means.
 2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein the winch includes first seal means between the drum and the shaft and second seal mans between the drum and the base, said first and second seal means being independent of the mounting and de-mounting portion of the base and mounting plate.
 3. The combination in accordance with claim 1 including a planetary gear system including a shaft having and external input comprising a shaft extending to the top of said drum and sealed for rotation with respect to said drum and a sun gear fixed to the shaft within the winch, a ring gear coupled to the drum and a planet gear system engaging the sun and ring gear wherein the planetary gear system is positioned within the region of the upper flange of the winch. The combination in accordance with claim 3 wherein said shaft is rotatably secured to the base of the winch and a pair of sprag clutches engage the planet gear portion of the planetary gear system, one of said sprag clutches allowing rotation in one direction only on the planet portion of the planetary gear system with respect to the shaft and the second of the sprag clutches allowing one-way rotation of the planet portion of the planetary gear system with respect to the base of the winch. 